Vettel "did Lewis a favour" at turn one

338eab41b3b7e1195806d55bcb6aa49c988e834b

10:49, 13 May 2019

Sebastian Vettel believes that he did Lewis Hamilton a favour at turn one by distracting Valtteri Bottas, allowing Hamilton to take the lead.

The slow starting Bottas was directly in front of Vettel when the German pulled to the outside, sandwiching Bottas with Hamilton on the inside, and Vettel believes this is what distracted Bottas enough to let his teammate past.

Vettel explained the incident to Autosport after the race: “I wanted to brake latest – which I think I did.

“Obviously Valtteri was also quite late and I could not really get in, and I couldn’t see him so I knew he was there.

“I saw that he was also braking quite late and if I just turned in, which I think I could have managed, then he would have had nowhere to go and I would go the other way. It didn’t work.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	179
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	154
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	147
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	108
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	97
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	82
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	76
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	52
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	42
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	39
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	20
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	6
15	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
16	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
17	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Vettel "did Lewis a favour" at turn one

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